Sony PVM-20L4 speakers?

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goz
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Joined: Sat Feb 17, 2018 3:46 pm

Sony PVM-20L4 speakers?

Post by goz »

Hi everyone!

I have a lovely Sony PVM-20L4, which has a mono internal speaker, useful for checking games on, but not great for actually showing them off, sound wise.

I want to connect some external speakers, similar to those used on earlier PVMs, such as the 2130QM. Is this actually possible? I've poked around the back of the set and, unless I'm being extremely thick, can't see anywhere to connect a pair of speakers. Am I destined to have to settle for slightly muffled mono?

Any help gratefully received!
Dochartaigh
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Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2017 6:53 pm

Re: Sony PVM-20L4 speakers?

Post by Dochartaigh »

You're (I'm assuming) using SCART to BNC breakout cable which should have stereo RCA plugs coming off them. Run a cable from those to a stereo of your choice (home stereo, a pair of shielded computer speakers if they're going to go right next to the monitor, whatever).
Ikaruga11
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Re: Sony PVM-20L4 speakers?

Post by Ikaruga11 »

Dochartaigh wrote:You're (I'm assuming) using SCART to BNC breakout cable which should have stereo RCA plugs coming off them. Run a cable from those to a stereo of your choice (home stereo, a pair of shielded computer speakers if they're going to go right next to the monitor, whatever).
Would the RCA Stereo plugs come off the SCART cable or the BNC breakout cable?
Dochartaigh
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Re: Sony PVM-20L4 speakers?

Post by Dochartaigh »

GeneraLight wrote:
Dochartaigh wrote:You're (I'm assuming) using SCART to BNC breakout cable which should have stereo RCA plugs coming off them. Run a cable from those to a stereo of your choice (home stereo, a pair of shielded computer speakers if they're going to go right next to the monitor, whatever).
Would the RCA Stereo plugs come off the SCART cable or the BNC breakout cable?
Most breakout cables look like this:

https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/son ... verter-bnc

And SCART cables are usually all-in-one (so those have enough pins for the RGBS video + stereo audio), so it goes console > Console to SCART cable > SCART to BNC Cable, and at the end of the SCART to BNC cable it'll have 4x BNC's (for Red, Green, Blue, and Sync), and 2x RCA's for left and right (white and red) audio.

This is assuming your console outputs stereo sound (my Gen 1 Sega Genesis for example doesn't - so couple extra steps there, but most of that gen onward do).
goz
Posts: 12
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Re: Sony PVM-20L4 speakers?

Post by goz »

Dochartaigh wrote:You're (I'm assuming) using SCART to BNC breakout cable which should have stereo RCA plugs coming off them. Run a cable from those to a stereo of your choice (home stereo, a pair of shielded computer speakers if they're going to go right next to the monitor, whatever).
Got it! I think that should work, although I also run one console vis S-video at the moment, which I assume won't be included. Shame there's no speaker cable inputs on the actual set, though, as it'd be neat to go direct to speakers without having to go through a stereo/ amp etc. Anyhow -- super appreciate the help!
Dochartaigh
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Re: Sony PVM-20L4 speakers?

Post by Dochartaigh »

goz wrote:
Dochartaigh wrote:Shame there's no speaker cable inputs on the actual set, though, as it'd be neat to go direct to speakers without having to go through a stereo/ amp etc. Anyhow -- super appreciate the help!
Most PVM's only have a mono - the only ones which have stereo are the older "cube" style (at least my cube model has that) - and those actually have a built in speaker amp too ;)

For S-Video, that cable should also have 2x RCA's for stereo sound with it (at least my SNES and PS1/PS2 S-Video cables came that way). You might have to switch that cable out between your other system(s) though. My shielded computer speakers actually have two RCA inputs so something like that might work for you as well (I don't know how many systems you're running or plan to run). This is why people like audio/video switches like the Extron Crosspoint which you can run RGB to + S-Video + Composite + Component + VGA, etc. along with sound (as long as you buy the "HVA" version which does sound as well).
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tjstogy
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Re: Sony PVM-20L4 speakers?

Post by tjstogy »

GeneraLight wrote: Would the RCA Stereo plugs come off the SCART cable or the BNC breakout cable?
This is an odd question from someone who supposedly owns a BVM...
Ikaruga11
Posts: 1454
Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2016 1:32 pm

Re: Sony PVM-20L4 speakers?

Post by Ikaruga11 »

Dochartaigh wrote:
GeneraLight wrote:
Dochartaigh wrote:You're (I'm assuming) using SCART to BNC breakout cable which should have stereo RCA plugs coming off them. Run a cable from those to a stereo of your choice (home stereo, a pair of shielded computer speakers if they're going to go right next to the monitor, whatever).
Would the RCA Stereo plugs come off the SCART cable or the BNC breakout cable?
Most breakout cables look like this:

https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/son ... verter-bnc

And SCART cables are usually all-in-one (so those have enough pins for the RGBS video + stereo audio), so it goes console > Console to SCART cable > SCART to BNC Cable, and at the end of the SCART to BNC cable it'll have 4x BNC's (for Red, Green, Blue, and Sync), and 2x RCA's for left and right (white and red) audio.

This is assuming your console outputs stereo sound (my Gen 1 Sega Genesis for example doesn't - so couple extra steps there, but most of that gen onward do).
Ah, okay thanks. Is there any non-SCART solutions for getting stereo audio? I'll also have an Extron device in the mix for switching. I'm curious: What extra steps are needed for the Gen 1 Sega Genesis? I have one too. I heard there's a stero mod for it.
tjstogy wrote:
GeneraLight wrote: Would the RCA Stereo plugs come off the SCART cable or the BNC breakout cable?
This is an odd question from someone who supposedly owns a BVM...
I have the BVM, and trying to figure out the cable order for everything is my next step.
Dochartaigh
Posts: 1520
Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2017 6:53 pm

Re: Sony PVM-20L4 speakers?

Post by Dochartaigh »

GeneraLight wrote:Ah, okay thanks. Is there any non-SCART solutions for getting stereo audio? I'll also have an Extron device in the mix for switching. I'm curious: What extra steps are needed for the Gen 1 Sega Genesis? I have one too. I heard there's a stereo mod for it.
Cables for most systems, be they Composite, S-Video, Component, etc., have those two left and right (white and red) RCA jacks on them which are meant to plug into ordinary consumer TV's (or your entertainment center's stereo system). SCART (and modern HDMI, and super old RF) are the only ones I can think of which don't have those separate plugs for stereo. What you do with those stereo cable RCA's is up to you. I highly recommend if you get an Extron Crosspoint that you get the HVA version which switches audio as well (and if your current version doesn't have that, I would buy a new one - they're like $50 shipped).

If you want RGB and don't want SCART you can have the cables coming off your consoles wired directly to BNC with either RCA's for audio, or even Phoenix audio connectors for your Crosspoint.

For the Genesis version 1 the stereo mod is super easy. You basically take a cable with 2x female RCA's on it, cut off one end and solder 4x wires to specific places on the motherboard - there's plenty or tutorials on the web for it. I didn't even have to mod the case to sneak the wire out the back.
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